[earthian]

Originally Posted by ARAY

.. if a gypsey or group of gypsey gets caught inbetween the cross fire of these monsters nothing much can ne done. Matkasur was unpredictable for his fights.The fight for core territory and buffer zone gets very ugly.

The drivers and guides understand that sightings translate into tips. A guide earns Rs 350/- a day. In the core zone he is lucky if he gets allotted once a day. Rs 200-300 in tips makes a difference for him. Hence they chase, harass, pester the animal. The tourist who has come to see a tiger doesn't mind. In fact if other gypsies go ahead, he feels shortchanged.
This is the scenario.
As usual, we would clamp down and the pendulum would swing the other way, when an accident occurs.
Just the way it is.
See this:

Our guide was asking the driver to go ahead of the tiger as other are doing. The tiger is surrounded. In the core area, the gypsies cannot go off the path earmarked or they are in trouble if the forest officials catch them. In the buffer, the rules are not strictly implemented.

Originally Posted by mac_guy555

Beautiful photos and you were lucky to see the Tigress chasing the Wild Boar !!

But i screwed up on the settings. And my favourite lens wasn't with me that safari.

We were lucky to see a male Leopard , 2 x Sloth bears too in broad day light. It was a super exciting trip for the kids ! There was a lot of commotion about a black panther in Tadoba right after we left and videos gone viral after we came back .... did you hear anything about it ??

Good pictures and lucky to get a leopard and sloth bears. We missed both. Yes, there was some talk about a black panther.

Originally Posted by saurabh89

But brilliant capture of the beast. They say its difficult to catch hold of tigers in Maharashtra these days.

Thanks. Not really. You can spot them during the hot season when the foilage is thin and they come to the water.

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Also, unless there is a group to share the cost, I felt Gypsy safaris are an expensive affair if you are staying for more than 2 days or so.

Yes, they are expensive. You have two choices. You can get a seat in the Canter, though the sightings could be limited. Or there are some early morning permits issued and visitors requiring single/double seats throng near the gate to make up a six seater. Bit of a pain since you have to go early and fix it.

[ARAY]

Originally Posted by earthian

Our guide was asking the driver to go ahead of the tiger as other are doing. The tiger is surrounded. In the core area, the gypsies cannot go off the path earmarked or they are in trouble if the forest officials catch them. In the buffer, the rules are not strictly implemented.
.

This is indeed a very very bad situation. Just 3 months back Matkasur managed to eatup a person who had come for headcount before the breading season. The guy and his colleague were stationed on a tree and the tiger had been observing them for few days. The tragedy happened at 5:50am when one of them came down for bio break.
The authorities will never share this news. These are not caged animals and are wildly ferocious. God forbid just because of the greed of the locals some poor soul might loose it.
This is becoming a very common trend in many wildlife sanctuaries. The frequency and thirst of females also increases during this period and they come often to waterbodies . Its very sad what we humans are capable of.

[Maddy3008]

Wonderful captures ! Brought back our memories from the recent wildlife related trip to the same area (related travel / photo log: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ral-india.html). Reading your log has created a want for yet another forest visit

I found that the drivers / guides in the MP forests are much more disciplined than those in Maharashtra (no offense). The primary reason was that guides in MP are given a GPS enabled device / phone which they have to carry with them during the forest run, and return once they are done with the trip. As a result, they are not able to go off-trails, or do any unplanned runs in other zones / routes apart from the ones alloted to them. They end up operating within the boundaries defined and only have the freedom to stop the vehicle when something is sighted.

Also, allowing private vehicles in forests in Maharashtra creates a lot of discplinary challenges. Many a times, the people inside these private vehicles talk loudly, try to mount the vehicle in odd positions, try selfies with animals by sticking their neck out, etc. I strongly believe that the Maharashtra side forests have to learn a lot in managing the safaris well - both for the tourists and for the animals.

[earthian]

Originally Posted by ARAY

T Just 3 months back Matkasur managed to eatup a person who had come for headcount before the breading season.

The tiger becomes a man eater only when it is unable to hunt its preferred prey. Killing a human and eating a human are two separate issues.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaCR-vYOUIs

Also see this.

Originally Posted by Maddy3008

I found that the drivers / guides in the MP forests are much more disciplined than those in Maharashtra (no offense)

And none taken.
I found that the guides (naturalists as they are known) and drivers are very disciplined in Karnataka. Bandipur national Forest, Nagarhole National Forest have very good and knowledgeable naturalists and drivers. They abide by the rules strictly.

[Madmax_SP]

@earthian
A treat to the visual senses with all the amazing pictures of wildlife.
Thanks for sharing, and these locations are duly added to my list of destinations / drives!
Warm regards
Madmax_SP

[ashphil]

That must have been a very exciting trip. Thank you for the beautiful photographs and the lovely write-up. Rated 5 stars!
regards,
Ashok

[earthian]

Originally Posted by Madmax_SP

@earthian
A treat to the visual senses with all the amazing pictures of wildlife.
Thanks for sharing, and these locations are duly added to my list of destinations / drives!

Thank you. Glad you liked them. When I was supposedly 'gainfully' occupied, i did not ( not, could not) take time off to visit our beautiful forests. I find the forest beautiful and serene, and indeed therapeutic; and I would advocate that all those working should take time off and visit them. I can wager that you would find the experience rewarding-in more ways than one; which i guess you know.

Originally Posted by ashphil

That must have been a very exciting trip. Thank you for the beautiful photographs and the lovely write-up. Rated 5 stars!

Thank you. Yes, the trip was exciting. Part of the fun is when you do things impromptu. Yes, at times such actions may cause stress and some discomfort; but on the other hand, too much micro planning can take the thrill (of the unknown) off.

[Alfa Romeo]

a really well written travelogue. thanks for taking us through this journey. Nice pictures and obviously can understand the excitement when we (myself being a photographer) start clicking and later realize that it was not meant for fast moving objects you have been lucky to witness all the wildlife and we (humans) should understand that we need to leave that for our future generations as well. i truly believe in this quote "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated".
— Mahatma Gandhi

[nilanjanray]

Lovely travelogue. I have had similar experiences (broken roads, then no roads) when trying to take shortcuts through the periphery of Satpura National Park.

How did you book Tamiya and Karmajhiri? Walk in, or the usual way through forest department?

Very nice shots of wildlife.

[DrVjy]

Lovely pics of the tigress, leopard and Dhole. Tadoba rarely disappoints as your travelogue proves. Gypsies scrambling for the best view is of course a territorial fight of the tourist kind. The attacking tiger video is chilling